Incubation under fluctuating light conditions provides values much closer to real <i>in situ</i> primary production

Comparison of measured primary production, by radioactive carbonate incorporation or oxygen production, with diel variations of oxygen, inorganic carbon and particulate carbon, shows that the net in situ production often exceeds the measured activity, especially in deeper marine ecosystems. In vitro incubations under fluctuating light conditions provide higher values of primary production at low light intensities, both with cultures and with natural populations. The same results are obtained with in situ incubations, by varying the depth of incubation. This method allows reevaluation of primary productivity at low light intensities and provides results in agreement with the in situ variations of oxygen, inorganic carbon and particulate carbon. It can explain why primary productivity in the ocean is higher than previously calculated

Summer distribution of marine mammals encountered along transects between South Africa and Antarctica during 2007-2012 in relation to oceanographic features

The at-sea summertime distribution of marine mammals between South Africa and Antarctica was determined along eight transects surveyed between December 2007 and January 2012. During 1930 30-minute transect counts, 1390 marine mammal individuals were attributed to 19 species: eight toothed whales (Odontoceti), six pinnipeds, and five baleen whales (Mysticeti). An additional two toothed-whale species were encountered ‘out of effort’. The four most numerous species accounted for 85% of the total number of individuals encountered: crabeater seal (Lobodon carcinophagus), humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae), Antarctic Minke whale (Balaenoptera bonaerensis) and fin whale (B. physalus). The distribution of these species was related to oceanographic features, such as water masses and fronts, pack ice and ice edge: These differences were statistically highly significant. Biodiversity was compared with other polar marine ecosystems

Low density of top predators (seabirds and marine mammals) in the high Arctic pack ice

The at-sea distribution of top predators, seabirds and marine mammals, was determined in the high Arctic pack ice on board the icebreaker RV Polarstern in July to September 2014. In total, 1,620 transect counts were realised, lasting 30 min each. The five most numerous seabird species represented 74% of the total of 15,150 individuals registered: kittiwake Rissa tridactyla, fulmar Fulmarus glacialis, puffin Fratercula arctica, Ross’s gull Rhodostethia rosea, and little auk Alle alle. Eight cetacean species were tallied for a total of 330 individuals, mainly white-beaked dolphin Lagenorhynchus albirostris and fin whale Balaenoptera physalus. Five pinniped species were represented by a total of 55 individuals and the polar bear Ursus maritimus was represented by 12 individuals. Four main geographical zones were identified: from Tromsø to the outer marginal ice zone (OMIZ), the Arctic pack ice (close pack ice, CPI), the end of Lomonosov Ridge off Siberia, and the route off Siberia and northern Norway. Important differences were detected between zones, both in species composition and in individual abundance. Low numbers of species and high proportion of individuals for some of them can be considered to reflect very low biodiversity. Numbers encountered in zones 2 to 4 were very low in comparison with other European Arctic seas. The observed differences showed strong patterns

Concentration and microbiological utilization of small organic molecules in the Scheldt estuary, the Belgian coastal zone of the North Sea and the English Channel

Concentrations and utilization rates of alanine, aspartate, lysine, glucose, glycollic, acetic and lactic acids have been determined on 6 occasions at least, during a full seasonal cycle in the water column of 3 stations (Scheldt estuary, coastal North Sea and English Channel) with greatly differing biological characteristics. No significant differences in substrate concentration could be detected between the 3 stations, although the rate of utilization of all substrates differed greatly, decreasing in the order estuarine > coastal > open sea environment. This apparent paradox is explained by aid of a simple model showing that the steady state concentration of a particular substrate is independent of its rate of production (and thus of consumption) and depends only on purely physiological characteristics of the bacteria. Using published data for the pertinent physiological parameters of marine bacteria, the model accounts for at least the order of magnitude of substrate concentrations observed, and the absence of important seasonal variation

Contamination par les métaux lourds des oiseaux marins et des marsouins de la Mer du Nord = Heavy metal contamination of seabirds and porpoises in the North Sea

In the North Sea, the contamination level of Cd in porpoises, Zn and Cu in seabirds and Hg in both appear to be very high. The other studied metals (Cr, Ti, Fe, Pb) concentrations are comparable to literature. Seabirds and porpoises are located at top of the food chains, however their use as bioindicators of the contamination level of the ecosystem they are feeding on remains debatable. Actually many differences appear in both the contamination level and the storage and detoxification mechanisms from a species to another

Summer distribution and ecological role of seabirds and marine mammals in the Norwegian and Greenland seas (June 1988)

During the ARK V/2 expedition of RV Polarstern in the Norwegian and Greenland seas in June 1988, 380 half hour counts for marine vertebrates (seabirds, pinnipeds and cetaceans) were carried out. Results are presented as total numbers encountered and then converted into density and food intake. Mean food intake was 2.2 kg fresh weight per km2 per day for seabirds, with a higher value in Atlantic water (2.5) lower values in polar water and the pack ice (1.7 and 1.9), and an intermediate value at the ice edge. The main species were the alcids (1.5, primarily Little Auk, Alle alle and Brünnich's Guillemot, Urea Iomvia), the Fulmar, Fulmarus glacialis (0.5), and the Kittiwake, Rissa tridactyla (0.2). The ecological role of cetaceans was clearly lower, with a mean value of 0.2 and a maximum of 0.7 in Atlantic water (rough evaluation, due to the low number of contacts). The food intake by pinnipeds was 0.55 kg/km2 day at the ice edge and 0.4 in the pack ice; they were mainly harp, Phoca groenlandica and hooded seals, Cystophora cristata, in one main concentration each and ringed seals, Phoca hispida, scattered on the pack. Data for July 1988 show a great similarity with these results, except for a lower density of alcids, which probably reflects that Little Auk, Brünnich's Guillemot and Common Guillemot, Uria aalge already had started to leave the region